r 



II 



THE AMERICAN 



ApiculturiSt. 



VOL. IX. 



A. Jourrial Devoted to Practical BeeKeeping, 



JANUARY, 1891. 



NO. r. 



SCRAPS FROM MY NOTE BOOK. 

 If from any cause a colony becomes 

 weak in the Hill, I have adopted the 

 bllowing plan to build it \\\> with very 

 jatisfactory results : 



I usually take off the surplus sections 

 ate in the season and in them are quite 

 I number of young bees that cannot 

 vvell be driven out with smoke, neither 

 will I hey desert the caps or leave the 

 sections after being placed in the cellar 

 jr honey house. 



I take the sections in which the bees 

 ire clustering to the colony I wish to 

 strengthen, and after first thoroughly 

 ,moking the bees i;i the hive and sec- 

 tions also, I brush the bees off in front 

 of the entrance and they will scamper 

 into the hive as lively as in swarming 

 time, and be readily accepted. 



Thereafter )Oung bees can be intro- 

 duced from any hive without smoking 

 and without any objection on the part 

 of the bees formerly introduced, or 

 members of the old colony, as they 

 have by this time become accustomed 

 to the influx of strangers and accept 

 their presence as a matter of course, for 

 they soon learn that they are peaceably 

 disposed and not there for the purpose 

 of robbing. A few bees from a number 

 of prosperous colonies will never be 

 missed, whereas, if a frame or two is 

 abstracted the loss will be apparent 

 next spring, and the bees in those hives 

 thus robbed of stores and brood will 

 not commence working in the surplus 

 arrangement nearly so soon ; not until 

 the loss has been made good. It will 

 not do to borrow from Paul to pay Peter 

 in a wholesale way, at least, that is my 

 theory. One colony in myajjiary built 

 up in the manner above mentioned, 

 are, at this writing, as strong as the 

 strongest. 



To regulate, and to a great extent 

 prevent an increase by swarming, I can- 

 not too stnmgly recommend the use of 

 baits in the surplus dei^aitment. There 

 are in every apiary sections partly filled 

 and uncapped. " I place one or two 

 unfilled sections in the surplus apart- 

 ment, sometime before the approach of 

 the honey '^ow, or after all danger of 

 chilling the brood is past. Hy this 

 means bees become accustcjnied to the 

 surplus department, and need no extra 

 coaxing to induce them to go to work 

 whenever there is anything to gather, 

 very ofien storing honey therein before 

 filling the brood frames below. 



I believe this plan has been recom- 

 mended before, but I had no idea of 

 its practical value until I put it into 

 practice. 



I do know, however, that bees some- 

 times refuse to work in cases provided 

 with new sections, in which were fas- 

 tened starters made from the very best 

 material, whereas if unfilled sections 

 had been used, I am satisfied that the 

 result would be different. 



Some bees are like the himian family 

 — a great incentive to labor must be 

 offered. 



A GOOD UISEKFECTAXT. 



The best way to cleanse a foul vault, 

 cellar or bee house, is to take a chunk 

 of unslacked lime about the size of a 

 two-gallon pail, place it in an old kettle 

 or pan and pour boiling water ovtr it, 

 and tightly close the doors or aperture. 



The steam arising therefrom will 

 penetrate every nook and crevice and 

 sweeten and purify the air better than 

 any method yet devised, that I have any 

 knowledge of. 'i ry it. 



What 1 have written heretofore bear- 

 ing upon improved methods of produc- 

 ing honey, and relating to experimental 



